Nottingham Forest delivered a commanding performance at the City Ground on Saturday, dismantling Manchester City 3–1 through a series of devastating counter-attacks — all while Super Eagles defender Ola Aina watched from the stands.

Aina, who has made six Premier League appearances and collected three yellow cards this season, was absent from the matchday squad entirely, leaving his teammates to do the damage without him.

Forest's clinical start

The hosts wasted no time making their intentions clear. In just the 6th minute, Jair Cunha stripped the ball from City's Joško Gvardiol deep inside the visitors' half, surged forward, and drilled a precise finish into the bottom left corner to open the scoring.

Forest doubled their lead in the 18th minute, again exploiting defensive uncertainty from City. Liam Delap latched onto a loose ball in his own half, burst past two defenders in a blistering transition run, and hammered the ball past the goalkeeper to put Forest in commanding control at 2–0.

City's brief response

Manchester City gave themselves hope early in the second half. Jeremy Doku tracked down a long ball along the left flank, and his deflected cross landed perfectly for Rayan Cherki, who rifled a strike into the top left corner to cut the deficit to 2–1.

City pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but that ambition was punished. In the 74th minute, Forest broke with pace and precision once more, and Delap — completing a memorable afternoon's work — struck a finish that clipped the inside of the far post and nestled into the net to seal a 3–1 victory.

Aina's absence

Aina's omission from the squad is a concern for Nigeria supporters, with the Super Eagles defender yet to fully cement his place in Forest's first-team plans this term. His absence was notable on a day when Forest produced one of their standout performances of the Premier League season.